Thirty years ago this week, a shy geography teacher from Norway came to New York for the first time with her husband. She came on a whim, for a chance to explore a new city, an opportunity to run a different – and far longer – kind of race.
Fred Lebow thought Grete Waitz might be a good pacesetter, since she was a world record holder in the 3,000 meters on the track. Waitz had never run more than 16 miles in a training run. Her husband and coach Jack knew she could run more.
Waitz didn’t come to set a pace. As it turned out, she set a world record.
The only problem was when Waitz crossed the finish line in 1978, nobody knew who this blond woman wearing bib No. 1173 was.
The city, and the world, soon found out.
Waitz would win a total of nine New York City marathons, a record that no woman or man has ever beatean.
Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe would be the closest woman to that record if she wins her third New York City title Sunday. (She won a 10-mile race Sunday, the Great South, in 51 minutes, 11 seconds, a British record. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/7689608.stm.)
Whenever Radcliffe has run in New York with gritted teeth, bobbing head and fierce determination, she usually has run in the lead. Engaging and insightful away from the course, she puts her body through torture on the roads because she is that competitive.
Waitz was that way, too, when she competed. She turned 55 this month, and will make her appearance again during race week in New York. She will ride in the pace car for the women’s race, watching Radcliffe for the second straight year.
Waitz is still imbued with grit and determination, only now she is using her spirit to fight cancer, in a three-year battle.
She has always been private, the adoration of Norwegians and New Yorkers that she has engendered over the years sometimes overwhelming to her. In that manner, she is firm about not disclosing her type of cancer.
It is one way of maintaining the grace for which she became famous, and also to take the spotlight off of her.
This year in Norway, Waitz was approached by a woman who wanted run the New York City Marathon, could not get an entry and learned about Fred’s Team. She decided to establish one in Norway and worked with Waitz to establish the foundation, Aktiv Mot Kreft (www.aktivmotkreft.no) or Active Against Cancer.
The Foundation does not fund general cancer research, but supports cancer activity centers at hospitals in Norway — much like the one in Oslo, where Waitz receives treatments. The foundation also helps fund PET scans for cancer detection.
“What was important for us, we needed to have something concrete of where to spend the money,” Waitz said recently in a telephone interview. “Not just for cancer research, but where you can see the results.”
The foundation also has a corporate program which promotes healthy living for employees. If an employee completes fitness milestones – which are represented on the map of the New York City Marathon — the company donates money to the foundation.
“The bottom line is we want to raise money by being active,” said Waitz, who still works out daily.
Aktiv Mot Kreft will bring 15 runners from Norway to New York, including the most decorated winter Olympics athlete in history, cross country skier Bjorn Daehlie. He won eight gold medals in three Olympics.
He did not win nine titles. That number Grete Waitz has made her own.
Tags: cancer, Grete Waitz, New York City Marathon, Paula Radcliffe
